Jack Mandel

Superior Court Judge Jack Mandel, who tutors students at Santa Ana High School, has won the first Los Angeles Times Volunteer of the Year award. Mandel, who tutors students every evening after his court duties, was given the award Monday. Hope Community Services in Santa Ana was presented with the Los Angeles Times Community Partner of the Year award for its work with low-income Vietnamese Americans.

Superior Court Judge Jack Mandel, who tutors students at Santa Ana High School, has won the first Los Angeles Times Volunteer of the Year award. Mandel, who tutors students every evening after his court duties, was given the award Monday. Hope Community Services in Santa Ana was presented with the Los Angeles Times Community Partner of the Year award for its work with low-income Vietnamese Americans.

Irvine Insurance Firm Insolvent: An Orange County judge has given state authorities permission to liquidate Cal-American Insurance Co., an Irvine property and casualty insurer that the state seized six weeks ago. Superior Court Judge Jack K. Mandel ordered the liquidation after the state determined that Cal-American was $1.1 million short in reserves for losses. Customers' claims up to $500,000 per policy and unearned premiums will be paid to customers by the California Insurance Guaranty Assn.

A dozen individuals and nonprofit groups were honored Friday and given a total of $45,000 for their charitable work throughout Orange County. For the sixth year, the Times Orange County presented its Volunteers of Distinction Awards, this year adding Community Partnership Awards for outstanding charitable organizations. Winners of the individual awards each received $2,500 for their groups.

In a surprising and emotional hearing Wednesday, a judge recused himself from hearing a request by the city to tear down 16 acres worth of vacant buildings, further delaying efforts to remove what many consider a prominent eyesore. The city of Santa Ana filed a lawsuit against Cooper Fellowship in June, alleging that the buildings it owns at 2828 N. Bristol St. had become a nuisance and asking that they be torn down.

Citing pretrial publicity, a judge Monday ordered a six-month delay in the trial of a personal injury lawsuit involving a shooting at a Santa Ana restaurant. Orange County Superior Judge Jack K. Mandel ruled that publication of a story on the trial in The Times' Orange County editions on Monday made the delay necessary. Anh Phuc Lam was shot and seriously wounded as she stood in the doorway of the Cafe Lup on North Euclid Street in Santa Ana in 1984.

Jews turned to a Catholic priest Thursday for help in remembering the horror of the Holocaust. A ceremony at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in West Los Angeles paid homage to 6 million Jews killed in World War II by honoring Father Josef Gorajek--a Polish village priest who saved dozens of Jews from Nazi invaders by hiding them in his parish. The event was part of an international Holocaust Day remembrance.

A Superior Court juror who reportedly sought to be relieved from jury service because he thought his business needs were more important was sentenced to five days in jail recently for disregarding court orders, reporting late and delaying a jury trial. It used to be that about 20 to 25% of the people in Orange County summoned for jury duty didn't bother to appear. Since a few judges started to crack down, the number of no-shows has decreased noticeably.

Demolition of dozens of buildings the city has deemed a nuisance has been stopped, an attorney for the property owner said Wednesday, following a Superior Court judge's delay of a hearing on the issue for two weeks. The buildings, on 16 acres at 2828 N. Bristol St., have been vacant for more than a year, a situation that city officials say can lead to crime. Citing that concern, Santa Ana filed a lawsuit against the property owners in June asking that the structures be torn down.

An Orange County Superior Court judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a postal worker who contended that her union left her unprotected when co-worker Mark Richard Hilbun went on a deadly rampage at the Dana Point post office in 1993. Judge Jack K. Mandel ruled that the suit filed by Kim Springer, who police said was stalked by Hilbun for a year, should instead be filed in federal court because it involved federal employees, said Springer's lawyer, Jack M. Earley.